Inner Authority How often do we hear that we need to have a still mind?
Be calm,
Sit still,
Chant a mantra in a certain way.
There seems to be all sorts of rules to follow if you want to have a successful meditation or meditation practice that will bring you the ultimate goal,
Whatever that is.
Maybe we should start with this question.
What is meditation for?
Let's be radical for a minute and put away any thoughts about slowing down,
Getting calmer,
Becoming one with God,
Merging with the force or any other goals.
There are a lot of perspectives on meditation that have us moving away from what comes natural to us,
Which is being here in this body and living to the fullest in our lives.
Let's create a perspective on meditation that is about enriching your life,
Putting your own needs,
Wants,
Desires at the centre of your practice.
What if you went into a meditation asking yourself,
What do I want right now,
What need do I have that seeks to be fulfilled?
That sounds a little rebellious,
Self-centred even.
When we put ourselves at the centre of our practice,
We start to understand what it is from life that we really want.
We create healthy boundaries,
We begin to listen to our own inner authority.
We become sovereign in this,
Our own castle,
Our own temple.
We become sovereign at the centre of our universe.
Imagine asking yourself,
What is my deepest desire?
What would life be like if that wish were fulfilled?
Who is it that provides you with the answers?
Which parts of you start to vie for your greater self's attention?
Is it your child's self who wants more loving attention from parents or ice cream?
Perhaps it's your animal self that wants to run and hunt and explode with ferocity.
Maybe it's the part of you that wants to be held,
To be loved,
To be cared for.
What if you just open yourself up to the whole cast of your inner characters and let them talk to each other?
Perhaps you might take pen and paper out and list out all of who you are,
All the roles and characters you play.
It could get busy in there,
There could be fights,
Arguments,
Different little groups forming,
Taking sides.
It might seem a downright mess,
But meditation can be messy,
Get real about that.
It isn't about stillness,
Calmness,
Serenity.
Insinctive meditation is a tune up for life,
A chance you take to get stuff sorted out so that life itself can run more smoothly,
And life can be a richer experience.
In amongst that cast of characters,
In amongst the chaos,
There is your inner queen,
Your inner king.
The sovereign part of you,
The one that will be holding court,
The one that will be listening to everybody's requests,
Everybody's whingeings,
Everybody's wishes,
Everybody's hurts,
And the sovereign part of you,
The king,
The queen that you are.
And we're giving everybody a fair hearing,
Taking notes,
Making decisions,
Because inside of all of us,
The sovereign part of us,
Is fair,
Just,
And wise.
He or she just needs to be given the time to play the part,
And this is a skill.
Learn to give all of your parts the chance to talk,
To say what they need.
Practice having patience,
Courage and fortitude to be with yourself and all the characters you are,
Until the wise part of yourself can make judgement and take action.
Be prepared to be with yourself until your inner wisdom is revealed.
When you have listened to all your inner parts,
You can then stand in who you are,
What you stand for,
What you desire,
What you need.
From here,
It will become clear when others start to impinge on your boundaries.
Your inner wisdom will give you strong yes and no answers to decisions,
Relationships,
Path choices,
Health choices.
Developing your inner authority is not authoritarian.
It's about listening to all of the parts of who you are,
To listening to all of what you want,
To all of what you need.
When we become sovereign,
Our path becomes clear.
